Squats.

The squat is essentially a full body exercise. Every muscle is worked during a squat, but people include this movement in their workout because it primarily works the muscles of the hips, buttocks and thighs as well as helping strengthen the ligaments, bones and insertion of tendons throughout the lower half of the body. Squats are considered an irreplaceable and vital exercise for increasing the size and strength of the buttocks and legs. When you are training legs you are training by far the biggest muscle group in the body so failure to train this muscle group is cheating yourself and your results.

Doing squats increases Growth Hormone (GH) and Testosterone levels in your body. This of course has a beneficial effect on the rest of your body. If you put time and effort into your squats then your overall strength and size will go up. If you're only working your upper body then your weight training plan is seriously flawed. Muscle size is directly related to strength. This is why Arnold Schwarzenegger himself could squat close to 500lbs! Squats strengthen the legs by working through a full range of motion. This training will help you in ANY sport you do but also help you in everyday activities.

People usually lift objects everyday depending on who they are, some more than others but the fact remains that at some point during the day, week or month you'll have to lift heavy stuff. Contrary to previous controversial information, squats do increase and maintain flexibility. Whether you're going from ass to grass or just to parallel, squats will increase your flexibility. You NEED flexibility to squat in the first place, squatting will help you maintain that flexibility.

Squats get a bad rap for damaging your knees, the fact is, squatting CORRECTLY will do nothing but strengthening their surrounding muscles. Your body's muscle tissue strengthens when exposed to stress. The tendons, ligaments and other connective tissues in your body will also thicken in response to lifting weights. Because of these effects, heavy squatting can only increase knee strength! By strengthening the supporting muscles around the knee, you will also end up with a much improved level of stability and strength in the knees.

Knee problems almost always only occur when you have been squatting with bad or improper form, especially when you relax in the bottom position of the squat. When you relax the knee joints in this position, the joints themselves actually separate slightly, placing themselves in a dangerous and compromising position. The solution is not to relax in the bottom position of course! It really is that simple. Keep the form perfect, everything tight and flexed and you should have no problems at all.

With regards to squatting parallel or deep (to the floor), there are benefits on both sides. Some sources say that squatting deeper to the floor activates the glutes more effectively. Squatting deep won't blow your knees either unless you're doing it wrong and have been doing it wrong for months. This is indeed the same for any other exercise. If you do an exercise wrong and continue to do it wrong with bad form, tempo etc. then you're setting yourself up for big problems sooner or later.

NEVER do half squats. Your knee is in fact strongest in a fully flexed or extended position, not the positions in between. On top of that, partial or half squats only strengthen your quads, not your hamstrings or glutes. This will only bring you muscle imbalances and injuries. Half reps are also much less effective for strength and muscle gains. Always squat in a squat rack so that the safety pins cover you if anything goes wrong (these pins will catch the bar).

For some people, when it comes to squatting, their hips just won't go low enough to reach the ground and this can make correct squat technique impossible. To fix this problem you should try squatting whilst holding a barbell overhead fully extended. This will quickly improve your hip flexibility.

ALWAYS step backwards to un-rack the bar. NEVER forward. You don't want to injure yourself stumbling over your own feet whilst walking the weight backwards into the pins of the squat rack after a draining or strenuous set.

• Set up the barbell in the squat rack around mid chest level or at armpit level
• Position your feet directly underneath the the bar, shoulders apart.
• Squat underneath the barbell and place it on your back.
• Tighten everything up and squat upwards to un-rack the bar.
• One step back with one leg, one step back with the other.
• SQUAT!

^ This is the general course of action for squatting but I'll delve into it further now in much more detail.

Setting up the squat:-

• Bring your chest upwards and tighten your upper back.
• Keep your head in line with your torso and look forwards, not at the ceiling or at your feet.
• Keep the bar low, below the bone at the top of your shoulder blades, NEVER directly on your spine.
• In terms of grip width, a narrow grip makes it easier to tighten your upper back before you squat.
• Your thumbs should be on top of the bar, next to your fingers. In this position you'll be able to keep your wrist in line with your forearms.
• You should keep your wrists straight during your lift as your back supports the bar, not your hands. Keep your wrists perfectly in line with your forearms and NEVER bend them.
• Make sure your upper back is tight. Bring both shoulder-blades together, tightening the upper-back gives the bar a solid base to rest upon.
• Keep your elbows back! Don't let them come forward. Pushing your elbows back prevents elbow injuries. Back doesn't mean 'up' by the way.
• With regards to your stance and where your feet should be, a narrow stance won't work for a low bar squat. Heels should be shoulder-width apart. If your lower back rounds, go wider until it doesn't.
• Point your toes out about 30 degrees. Your toes must ALWAYS follow your knees or you'll get knee injuries.

How to squat down properly:

Hopefully you have un-racked the bar correctly, all your muscles are tight and ready to squat. The key to squatting correctly with a low bar position is your hips. You must have good tension in your hamstrings at the bottom. Now I'll go into more detail about the squatting downwards:

• Knees should be out. Never allow your knees to buckle in or they'll get severely injured.
• Hit parallel to the floor (if you aren't doing the squat ass to grass). Your hip joint must come lower than your knee joint. If you're still unawares as to whether you're doing it correctly then ask someone to judge your depth.
• Never do partial or half squats EVER!

How to squat upwards properly:

Your hip muscles will be flexed and stretched when in the bottom position of the squat if you have done it correctly. Use that stretchiness to bounce out of the bottom. If you squat with this method, you'll be able to lift a lot more weight whilst keeping your knees safe.

• Keep your hips up. Drive out of the bottom by leading with your hips and not your chest. Don't let your knees travel forward at the bottom of the lift or you'll lose power in the lift.
• Squeeze your glutes! A lot of power comes from the glutes. Squeeze them hard as you lock out the weight. This will also keep your lower back tight and safe.
• Grab the floor with your feet, it will help in activating your glutes. Do NOT let your heels come off the floor.
• Keep your knees out as you did on the way down: NEVER let them buckle in. Push your knees out as you squat upwards.

ALWAYS use free weights for squats instead of machines. Machines are less effective for making muscle and strength gains because they balance the weight for you as well as force you into unnatural and fixed movement patterns. It's best in terms of all movements to use free weights over machines.